Unknown Desire
by taffyz
Summary: It was love, or it was just lust. Either way, Uchiha Sasuke would have her. Sasusaku.
1. Chapter 1

Rated because of THINGS

* * *

Obsessed wasn't exactly the word. Uchiha Sasuke wasn't OBSESSED with Haruno Sakura, he was just interested in her, in a sickly way. An interest that includes spying on her while she eats cereal, while she's throwing boots at loud cats, all the way to peeking at her while she's in her room changing her clo —yeah…not an obsession, an _interest,_ or maybe even a hobby.

It had been a bad habit at first, how he was so fixated to her, and everything she did. She made the simplest of tasks seem so interesting to watch. She mesmerized him, her unique pink hair, and those special jade eyes that could sparkle when happy and burn when angry.

He just wanted to do THINGS with her...THINGS didn't mean hopscotching with her, or doing community service with her , or singing karoake with her. THINGS as in...dirty things...naughty things...

She was his drug; he couldn't stop getting enough of her. Every moment observing her was savored; he didn't even know how this even happened.

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was confused. Confused on _how _this happened. This is Sakura he was thinking about! The annoying girl that clutched onto him when afraid, who was an open book, easy to read. But then again, he never saw it until now. Sakura was a beautiful girl, becoming smarter and stronger as time passed.

How he never realized this in the past, when he DID have the chance to have her, was a complete mystery. Then again, he was only twelve. Twelve year old boys don't pay attention to girls and their body's needs until…later on in life.

He was nineteen now, seven years have passed since then. He was completely different. Seven years of getting stronger, wiser, and better at just about everything. In those seven years, he even managed to kill Orochimaru, a legendary sannin. Something twelve year old Sasuke would probably never have accomplished. Now, he had completely changed, shedding his past and looking ahead, where the future lies.

He no longer cared about Sakura's past as a weak, trembling girl. All that mattered now was the present Sakura, the one that could send somebody soaring into the sky with the fling of a finger. She was the first female to catch his attention with her shear raw power and endless determination.

Sasuke threw himself against a tree as the door of the house in the front flew open, a kunoichi stepping out. Green eyes scanned the area…she could have just sworn she sensed somebody's chakra. Brushing off the incident, Sakura continued forward out of her house, on her way to the training grounds.

Unknown to her, a certain raven-haired shinobi slipped behind her, following in her shadow.

* * *

_BANG! _The ground shook, deep cracks running through the earth, debris and smoke filling the air. Sakura lifted her head up to examine the wreckage she made. 

_A few more months, and my punches will probably have as much impact as Tsunade-hime's. _Sakura nodded in approval at the damage.

Sasuke gazed at her from the outskirts of the training ground, impressed at her ability. He was so far away from her, not just by distance but so much more. To her, his presence was unknown, never seeing him watching her; he was invisible to her.

_Which is how it's supposed to be_… Sasuke ignored his mental statement, looking ahead. His five senses were unsatisfied. Just watching her wasn't enough. Just listening to her voice while she's in a conversation wasn't enough. He wanted _more. _He yearned to breathe in her fragrance, the smell of sweet strawberries. He wanted to know how she tasted, know what it's like to _feel _her.

He knew he was a cold criminal, and she a loyal shinobi of Konoha, but opposites attract. The only problem was they were too different, a relationship could never happen without having to go through a bunch of obstacles. So sadly it couldn't happen…scratch that, maybe it could happen…

* * *

She panted heavily, lifting herself up as the last small section of the training grown was in ruins. Her feet moved forward as she moved towards her house. She sighed, days were becoming more boring because the lack of activities. No missions, and almost all her friends were dating. She didn't want to be the third wheel, sitting awkwardly while her friends enjoyed the presence of their companion. 

So instead, she avoided her dating friends to avoid the discomfort of being the unwanted person lingering onto her friends who are in love. _Maybe one day I'll find a man of my own, somebody I could stare passionately at and exchange compliments of each others appearance_. _Maybe. _

Maybe not. Was there anybody out there that could meet her expectations? Lee was single, but honestly, Lee?! He was more in the "friends" category.

_Sakura-san, you are the flame on my candle, the brightness of my sun, the shine to my hair…_Sakura shuddered at the thought of dealing with Lee's odd way of talking if she were to ever date him. Besides, think about the gifts he'd give her? He'd probably get her a bunch of jumpsuits, or even worse….he'd bring her to the place where he and Gai get their haircuts! Sakura slapped herself several times, trying to take away the frightening mental image of her in the same disastrous haircut.

_Yeah, it's decided, Lee is a friend…but who else is an option? Sas- _Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. Sasuke? There was definitely no way Sasuke could be an option.

Sure, there were plenty of times when Sasuke crossed her mind as an option, but the name only crossed the fantasy part of her mind, the one she uses to daydream. Never has it really come across as an actual option. He was a criminal, a traitor, a person who broke her heart and everyone else who knew him. It would never happen...and besides, she loathed him for all he's done, she'd rather date Lee than Sasuke…

The wind blew heavily as Sakura's cold fingers touched the icy doorknob. She slid inside her house, immediately relaxing after feeling the warmth of the house.

_I better go rest now. After all, I have to go to Tsunade's tomorrow to be assigned a mission. _Sakura groaned at the thought as she slumped onto her bed.

* * *

Outside, the ruthless Sasuke stood on a tree, watching her. After a long internal conflict, he came to a decision. He was going to have Sakura. Sasuke smirked, before leaping off, on his way out of Konoha. After all, an Uchiha always gets what he wants.

* * *

Reviews pleassee! If I have more, I'd update quicker. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the late update, but school's in...and the teachers are piling me with tests and work...thanks for the updates! loved the positive feedback so far. This story was made of shear boredom, and i've never imagined it to be read. :)

* * *

Her eyes were wide as her mouth was agape; the library was huge! Sakura groaned, catching up to Naruto who sprinted forward. This was a D ranked mission, _D ranked._ How _her _team, the team filled with elite ninjas, was chosen out of all the others for this mission was unknown. She did know one thing, this mission would suck, _big time._

The mission was straight forward: go to a nearby village's library, and sweep the accumulating dust off the books and bookshelves. Simply put, they were doing maid's work.

As the large door swung open, Sakura groaned again at the sight: the place was as big as it looked on the outside. '_Hasn't anyone here ever heard of community service? Why have elite shinobis do this job?' _

Sakura's eyes wandered around the place: a staircase leading to another floor, large rooms filled with never ending books, and Naruto's troubled face. She glanced back at Naruto's face, his eyes filled with horror. '_I guess Naruto is scared of books…and everything else that has to do with learning.'_

"Ok, this is how it's going to go. There are four floors," Kakashi held out his hand, lifting four fingers, " and there are four of us.." he glanced at Sai, Naruto, and Sakura , " so there will be one person per floor."

Naruto growled, "Kakashi Sensei, why are _we _stuck with the maid's work? If we're going to do a D-ranked mission, at least let's do a _cool _D-ranked mission, like working at a ramen stand! I'd have more dignity working at a ramen stand than at a stupid library!

Kakashi stared at the Naruto, his face blank as none of the words sunk in. Naruto glared back, there eyes making connection. The fierce staring contest went on, until Kakashi broke the silence.

"Let me set the rules…," he spoke, not leaving his eyes from Naruto.

"and let me set one thing straight…," Naruto spoke, his eyes still on his sensei.

"…I get to work in the adult section!" they both yelled in unison. Hearing one another, their glares intensified.

"Perverts," Sakura mumbled. '_No surprise there.'_

"We're not perverts!" the perverts retorted, facing Sakura. There eyes shifted and stared at each other again.

"You too? I guess, Kakashi-sensei, that there's only one way to solve this dilemma." Naruto balled his hand into a tight fist.

"I guess so too.." Kakashi said in quiet voice, raising his hands and positioning them.

"…"

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

* * *

Sakura sighed and placed the duster down, her arms sore. Naruto was probably sulking right now; he never should have chosen rock. She picked up the duster again, holding her breath as the dust filled the air with every swift motion of her arm. 

_Clud. _Sakura froze, the sound reaching her ear: the sound of a book dropping. She looked forward ahead of the shelf, only to see nothing but more rows of neglected book-lined shelves. '_There's nothing here that could really move the books out of their place'_

Exhaling a breath, Sakura walked to where the sound originated. She saw nothing out of the ordinary but a book that had fallen on the ground. Bending down, she picked the book up, finding a gap within the lining of books and pushing the book back into place.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. She quickly spun, her shinobi instincts kicking in as she pulled out a kunai. Nothing. By shear curiosity, she moved forward to where she thought she saw the movement, looking around for anything unusual.

A kunai whizzed to her, before she reflected it, positioning herself for another attack.

"Come out, whoever you are. Naruto if that's you, go take out your disappointment in losing on Kakashi-sensei or Sai," she said, trying to sound as brave as possible. Silence.

"Sa-ku-ra, aren't you glad to see me? I've wanted to see you for a _long _time." Sakura turned, that voice was so familiar. And there he stood, the bastard, a smirk plastered over his handsome face, standing right behind her. Uchiha Sasuke.

She flung a kunai at him, jumping back. He swiftly caught it between his index finger and thumb, swinging it in front of her as trying to tease her, trying to _show _her how fast he was. He dropped it on the carpet with a soft _thud. _

She stepped back, her eyes wide. He was an S ranked criminal, one that defeated Orochimaru. There was absolutely no way that she could beat him, the battle was already lost. However, Sakura wasn't the type to whimper and scowl at a noticeable battle advantage. Sure, he was stronger, but that never stopped her before from beating others stronger, like Sasori.

The glove slipped on her hand, the best way to win this battle was to call the others. The only way to do that was to grab attention by making a ruckus, and making noise was her specialty.

She cracked her knuckles, before grinning at the Uchiha. "Sasuke-kun, sorry to disappoint you, but Itachi isn't here. However, Naruto, me, and Kakashi-sensei, are here, and we're going to bring you back."

Sasuke's face was stoic, obviously not caring of the threat. A second later, he was gone. He was fast. Sakura swiveled around, seeing no one. She looked to the sides, seeing no one. Anytime now, he could attack with that incredible speed of his; she had to be ready.

Sakura backed up, searching intently for Sasuke, looking back every now and then for him. She moved backwards until her back was facing the wall, only mere centimeters away. '_Now Sasuke-kun can't sneak up on me from the back.'_

It happened in an instant. Sasuke appeared right in front of her, surprising her as he pushed her against the wall. His lips turned into a small smile, staring at her wide-eyed face. Sakura shut her eyes, ready for death to come.

But it never came. She lifted her eyes to see the traitor's face, his _handsome _face, none-the-less, though she never would admit it. He stared at her amused.

Sasuke leaned in towards her ear, "I said, did you miss me?" he whispered. She stared at him, not knowing what to speak. Was he crazy?

"No, because you're a traitorous bastard!" Sakura spat, venom dripping from her voice. He smirked at her. She looked so…cute stuck there in that hostile position. Sakura inhaled a sharp breath when she felt him pin his body against the wall with his body. They were just so…..close.

A long awkward pause was present as they both just…stared, tension thick in the air. She must have angered him with that statement, she must have! But, Sakura was prepared for death, even if it was going to be painful.

And when he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, she wasn't prepared. Sakura's mind, however, was wiped out at the feeling of his lips, on hers. It was so foreign, so...sensational. But she couldn't kiss back, her pride was at hand, plus he was a traitor.

'_She isn't kissing back',_ Sasuke noticed. He pressed harder against her body, licking her bottom lip. Oh how he had dreamt of this day for countless days and nights.

Sakura was, to say the least, stunned at these actions. Her mind was wiped because of this kiss. What was he doing to her? Reality then took a hold and she remembered: She SHOULDN'T be doing this. But it felt so good. Still…

The kiss broke as Sakura quickly pushed Sasuke off, her knee then having contact with his groin. She ran, anything to escape him. Sakura heard the sound of him getting up again with a groan; she must have not hit hard enough for him to recover that fast.

Looking around, Sakura looked at the books. Sasuke was fast, she could never outrun him. As the sounds of his footsteps became louder, she hesitated. If she could just slow him down…Sakura took a look at the book shelf, before desperately pushing it down. The the shelf tipped, the books toppled, and everything came crashing down behind Sakura, blocking Sasuke's direct path to her.

Sakura winded around the other bookshelves in a panic. There was no way a wimpy fallen book case would stop Sasuke '_Where are the stairs?' _The place was like a labyrinth, large and impossible to find the way out. Sakura turned a corner, heart beating faster. Too bad there was a dead end. Sasuke approached, obviously unhappy.

_'Well who would be happy after getting kneed in THAT place?'_ She looked forward uneasily; she was trapped.

He moved closer, and closer. Sakura couldn't think properly, she was panicking. Every time he took a step forward, Sakura's heart beated faster. Then, he stopped.

Sasuke smirked to himself, she was being just so innocent. He would, however, have to get back at her for kneeing him, because it hurt _like heck. _Sasuke lips curved into a frown, "That wasn't a very nice way to reunite with a former teammate," Sasuke paused to listen for something before continuing, "Unfortunately, I can't stay. But," Sasuke smirked, "we'll see each other again, I can promise you that." And he was gone.

Sakura stared forward in confusion. She recalled him moving forward in aggitation and then all of a sudden...disappear?

Sakura turned as she heard footfalls and rustling. Naruto peaked his head over to see her, his face having a worried expression. "Sakura-chan! Me and Sai were looking for you! We heard a bunch of noises, and saw a shelf tipped over with a bunch of books on the ground! What happened to this place?" Naruto ran up, conscerned.

Sakura forced a small smile, putting a hand behind her neck, "Clumsy me. Sorry Naruto, I accidentally knocked a shelf over. I guess...I'm just getting tired."

Naruto nodded turning his head to give a disgusted glare at the books, "Yeah I get sleepy too whenever I'm in a library. How about you just rest and finish dusting later?"

Sakura grinned, "Sure." She gave him a reassuring look, trying to tell him to not worry. But those were just lies, she wasn't okay, because she was troubled. Sasuke came, and even worse, he kissed her! Well, the kissing wasn't bad, but she felt so...dirty. Sakura gazed down to the floor, her mind in deep thought. What was happening?

* * *

Review please!! -holds up begging cans- also open to constructive criticizing, because i'm kind of unsatisfied with the story myself. don't be surprised that i use the word "smirk" a lot, because that's what sasuke does...smirk. 


	3. Chapter 3

Omg, thanks for the reviews! Loved the positive feedback so far...special thanks to those who gave feedback to improve the story:)

* * *

Sakura slumped onto her bed exhausted after training; it had been around a week since the mission, a week since the _incident _with a certain traitorous Uchiha. She tried to brush off that incident, _she tried._ But, she couldn't. It wasn't easy to forget about a sensational lip-lock with an extremely hot guy, even if this kiss wasn't as intense as she saw it as. 

Sakura recalled how the simple mission was completed: She managed to dust that unimaginable amount of books, with the help of Naruto and Sai after they finished their floors. Kakashi, uh…well, he took a suspiciously _long _time dusting the books in the adult section.

The day passed incredibly, yet unsurprisingly, slow. By the end of the day, Team 7 left the library with sore arms, weary eyes, and in Kakashi's case, an arm full of adult novels barrowed from the library.

"Hey Forehead!" a voice yelled from outside the window, interrupting Sakura's recollection of what happened earlier on the mission. Sakura peered out the window, waving to Ino who stood on the streets.

"What do you want Ino-pig?"

"Let's hang out! Why don't you and I go out to a local tea shop and get updated on the latest news? I mean, we rarely have time when we're not busy." Ino explained.

Sakura sighed, "Fine. I'll be down there in a minute!" She lifted herself off the bed where she was contemplating, before running outside to meet up with Ino.

* * *

An uneasy silence came between them, Sakura staring blankly at her cooling tea in front of her. Ino stared hard at her friend, trying to read what she was thinking. 

"So…Forehead….You've been acting strange lately. Tell me, are you thinking about a guy? And if you are, who is it?" Ino raised an eyebrow and grinned looking at the person in front of her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. Well, a certain guy _was_ taking up her thoughts, so the question wouldn't be completely false. However, that certain guy was a criminal; but then again, she didn't really have to tell _who_ the guy was.

She might as well get some advice.

"Well, there this guy I've been think about…" Ino leaned forward urging her to go on.

"I've met him on a mission, and I'm scared I'll encounter him again…" her eyes drifted to the side.

Ino stared at her surprised before slowly asking, "Was he ugly?"

'_Is Sasuke ugly? Like hell no.'_

"No, he's actually quite the opposite," Sakura firmly stated, uncomfortable about the subject. It was the truth after all.

"Then what's the big deal?!" her blue eyes stared at Sakura as though she was psychotic, "If he's hot, you should be happy about it!"

"Yeah, but it's not just meeting him on the mission. I have a feeling he's _stalking _me." Sakura replied hotly.

Ino extended her arm and patted her on the shoulder, "He just likes you, that's all. Feel flattered about his actions."

Sakura sighed, giving into defeat. She incoherently grumbled something about Ino being "shallow" and "boy-crazy".

"Well, I'm not starting any relationships if that's what you're thinking of." She started after a small silence.

Ino's face dropped when she heard this.

"But Sakura," the blonde's lips curved down, "you're nineteen, you seriously need to think about a relationship or something like that. If you don't think about it now, you'll end up like one of those lonely forty year old virgins. I mean, you haven't ever been kissed by a guy!"

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. _'Actually, I have been kissed by a guy. My dad when I was little and….well, the other person…'_

"How do _you _know I've never shared a kiss with a guy?" the pink haired girl lashed back.

Ino's eyes widened. "So you are having a relationship with your stalker friend! I'm your best friend, come on Forehead! Tell me who the guy you met is!" She leaned in, "I need to make sure that my best friend is dating somebody descent!"

Ino had her eyes locked on Sakura's emerald ones, urging her to spill the information.

"I never said I'm dating a guy. Especially the guy I met on the mission. Sheesh, Ino-pig, at this rate, I'll never tell you even if I ever do kiss a guy." Sakura replied, moving forward as Ino leaned back in disappointment.

"Wow Sakura, that's so…_lame._ Still date-less? There are a lot of cute guys out there, like…I don't know, _Sai_?" Ino made a sly grin.

The emerald eyed girl groaned. Was her friend that dim? Was it only about guys?

"Sorry Ino, but I want to save my first kiss for someone special" Sakura informed. '_Which was already stolen from Sasuke-kun.'_

"And who will that be? Don't tell me it's Sasuke, that deserter. Please Sakura, you should get over him; you and him would never be together. He's a criminal, you're loyal to Konoha. I got over him, so can you." Her expression was serious as she stared at Sakura.

'_Yeah, I guess I won't tell you my first kiss was from Sasuke'. _Sakura's jade eyes shifted to the tea. _'Get hit by reality will you? Sasuke will never be with you, even a shallow person like Ino knows that!'_

It was finally decided in her mind. Since Sasuke stole her first kiss, next time they crossed paths, he was going _down. _

"Hey Ino, I had a nice time chatting with you," she kicked the chair back and stood up, "I'll talk to you later!" She smiled before sipping up the last of her tea and slamming the cup down. Before walking off, she peered back, "And if I ever meet a guy, I'll inform you!"

"And if this hot 'stalker' guy comes after you, tell him I'm single!" Ino yelled back, waving good-bye. Sakura ignored the statement, walking away.

Ino looked at her departing friend, smiling back. If she could only read Sakura…

* * *

She panted heavily, dropping the kunai before plopping onto the grass. Sakura laid there, on the training grounds, looking at the sky as a cool breeze blew through. '_What does Shikamaru find so interesting in clouds?'_

Several minutes flew by, her eyes scanning the sky, trying to find something that the abstract clouds resembled. '_They all look like...uh...cotton balls.' _

Sakura's eyes squinted, shielding her eyes with her hand when the sun showed its presence again after being enveloped by an immense cloud. A shadow loomed over her, blocking out the sunlight.

"Hn...lazy as ever. Shouldn't you be training?"

Sakura's eyes widened; that voice, she heard it not too long ago. She spun around to face Sasuke, standing there stoic as ever. Correction, she heard the voice a week ago.

She stood up, glaring daggers at him. "What do you want, and what are you doing in Konoha?"

He remained standing, not fleeing off like somebody normal would have. But then again, he wasn't normal.

She clenched her fist, unsure of what to do. '_Should I just attack…? Wait a minute, didn't I already decide that he was going down for stealing my first kiss?'_

She sprinted towards him, fist positioned as she gathered chakra within it. That would have been one heck of a blow—if it didn't miss. The earth crumpled underneath her contact, rubble flying through the air.

"Ah, you've grown a lot and became stronger." His voice sounded not the least impressed, nor did his face show it. He did, after all, witness her training many times before; so it was no shock.

She became aggravated. Why did he keep appearing? She aimed a kick, having it knock a tree. With each blow, each strike; she grew more frustrated as he dodged every single attack.

Having super-strength in battle was good, but in this situation, having speed was better. There was no point in punching craters if it missed its target.

Another tree fell, Sakura breathing heavily glaring at the Uchiha. It wasn't her accuracy's fault, it was his speed.

Sasuke slightly tilted his head to the side, curious on her next move. Nothing.

"Well, it was nice to see you again. I'm somewhat impressed by your new found ability; that chakra controls seems to come in handy," amusement was laced within his words, "You know, perfect chakra control will do good for the Uchiha clan."

He left as fast as he came, and left her confused, yet again.

* * *

this chapter is longer than the others..but not much happening in this one. i don't want this to be some pointless smut though. Review plz! (i know i'm sad) D: 


	4. Chapter 4

blame the latenss on school...(okay, I can't all blame it on school..I have to give some blame to my laziness and busy schedule as well..) ugh...anways, like I say, thanks for the review! the more the merrier :)

oh, and there are some partial flash backs...if you can call them flashbacks, in this chapter..

* * *

Blood covered the walls like an unwelcome coating of paint; slick, glossy, and pervasive. It was a dark hue of crimson, the same color as the eyes that glared maliciously at the lifeless slump on the floor. 

The raven haired man drew back his katana. It was all too easy. By using a transformation jutsu, he took on the form of a Konoha shinobi, being greeted with open arms by the guards as a guest from Konoha.

"A lesson to be learned, never lie to me about the Akatsuki," his voice was soft yet deadly. His words were useless, they were a warning too late.

A noise, a cry. Somebody was there that witnessed the slaughtering.

Sasuke's grip on his katana's handle tightened, turning to face the unwanted snooper: a young boy, no older than twelve. The boy's eyes widened in horror, beginning to fill with tears at the sight of the corpse.

Sasuke inspected the boy; cocoa brown hair and blue eyes, similar to the man he just killed. The boy must be the son of that filthy corpse.

He pulled out his katana, the blade pointing to the boy. The child staggered back, lowering himself to a crouch as he felt a solid wall behind him.

"Wha-what do you want?" the boy's voice was laced with fear. "You killed my father, pl-please don't kill me too!" His blue eyes shut close, bringing out his arms to shield himself.

Sasuke frowned. The brat was annoying. He might as well finish off the boy; the world doesn't need somebody else to follow the footsteps of that good-for-nothing father of his.

The sharingan wielder stepped forward as the brown hair boy cringed.

"Stupid child, your father was killed because of his stupidity. You look very similar to him. It reminds me of him, and it disgusts me." Sasuke's katana neared closer to the boy who pressed himself against the wall, staring forward with shear horror.

_The young boy stood there, eyes filled with tears as the silvery moon gleamed from above._

"P-please, don't! I won't be like my father, I promise!" the boy began to wail.

_He stared at his beloved brother, not able to believe what his brother has done._

"You're useless. There's no point in a life for you," the blade edged closer.

_He was scared for his life, the life that was in danger. He was saddened for his family, the lives who ended._

"Please! I'm not like my father!" the sobs grew louder as Sasuke stepped closer.

_And the young boy desperately begged for his brother to spare him. Saddened to never see his mother again…_

"My father treats me like nothing! Whatever I do is never good enough for him! I will never be like him!" the boy cowered in fear as the Uchiha towered over his figure.

_And the father he always tried to impress, would never be able to be proud of him._

The blond hair boy's eyes shut, as Sasuke brought his katana to the boy's neck. The kid waited for death…

"You're not even worth killing," and Sasuke left without another word.

_That day, Uchiha Itachi spared his brother, leaving him, Sasuke, feeling weak._

Sasuke stepped out of the mansion. The boy was incredibly lucky. The boy was saved, because Sasuke remembered; remembered how it felt like to loose family, and hope.

His mind wandered to different things, anything to change his thoughts.

"Wonder where Sakura is…" he suddenly began, amused.

* * *

It had spread across the mansion faster than fire. The wealthy leader of the village, Kimura Kano, was dead. Coincidentally, he died the same day a mysterious Konoha shinobi visited. Suspicions arose, rumors began, and by nightfall nearly everyone of the village believed in one thing: 

Konoha was a backstabbing traitor, not to be trusted, never to be seen in the same light again.

* * *

"Naruto! We've been wandering around for hours, and we still haven't found that stupid ramen stand you want to go to!" 

"I agree with Sakura-san, we have been searching for a long time. Dickless, I suggest we go eat somewhere else."

"SAI SHUT UP! You guys, I'm telling you, I know where the ramen stand is," Naruto stubbornly crossed his arms, "I asked for directions."

Sakura gritted her teeth, her patience running out. "And who exactly did you ask? Knowing you, you probably asked a two year old for directions."

Sapphire blue eyes darted to the side. "I did not, I asked a girl, who looked around six. May I add a very _mature _looking six year old," Naruto countered.

Jade eyes closed before exhaling a very long sigh. "Tch. So typical for Naruto to ask a child for directions. I mean, he gets lost going to the _bathroom. _Of course he'd do that!"

"Do not! It's not like you guys don't get lost as well. Heck, without me, you guys would be at the Hidden Waterfall village by now." Naruto defended, placing his hands behind his head.

"Oh really? How about we split and see who will make it to the ramen stand first?" the pink haired girl challenged with a grin.

"You're on! Let's start….now!" And Naruto sped off before Sakura had anything to say.

"I'll go as well. I do not want to lose to dickless." Sai departed, leaving Sakura alone.

* * *

"So the ramen stand is on the _other _side of the village," Sakura asked, trying to get things straight. The local nodded. "Oh, okay. Thanks!" She waved good-bye to the man before heading towards the opposite side of town. 

Step after step, stride after stride; no ramen stand was in sight. Two long walls was on each side of the kunoichi, an opening nowhere to be seen. The alleyway was huge, the only shortcut to the destination. The narrow alleys were winding, Sakura going between numerous buildings, and yet progression just wasn't happening.

She froze. A noise. Increasing her pace, she slipped on gloves and pulled out a kunai. The noise was becoming louder, the source coming closer. And when it was just about to reach her…the kunai cut the air as she flung it, a cat hissing as the weapon narrowly missed it. Embarrassment flooded in.

'_I'm just being paranoid...' _Her attention averted back to her goal: reaching the ramen stand. With light steps, she continued.

Her stomach growled and Sakura groaned. She was just looking forward to chowing down on some steaming ramen and enjoying the day. Team 7 was just hanging around a town after escorting a wealthy man by the name of Kimura Kano back to his village several days ago.

What seemed like hours passed, which was really a couple of minutes, and the faint noise of a busy street met her ears….as well as footfalls. They footsteps grew louder and her awareness increased. Her fingers hovered over her weapons pouch, waiting.

A throw. A scream. A cry. The kunai hit right above a little boy's head, who vowed never to go into dark alleys again before running off screaming. Sakura's stared dumbfounded, before running off as well.

'_If this keeps up, by the end of the day, I swear I'm going to accidentally kill everything in my path."_

Trying to push the accident out of her mind, the pink haired kunoichi focused on the sound of a bustling crowd—that meant closer to civilians and out of this chilling alleyway.

She could hear the sound of people growing louder, just probably a turn away…until she found herself on the ground.

With that arrogant look of triumph, Sakura just wanted to punch that bastard's handsome face that disgusted her…well, kind of. Realizing the proximity between the obsidian eyed man and her…her face grew heated.

God, Sasuke was _hot._ Sure, any girl would be ashamed to fall for him, but that didn't stop them from squealing at his good looks.

His gorgeous face, his well toned body--this can't be healthy. Sakura looked to the side, avoiding his gaze.

"Can you please annoy me another day, I haven't ate yet," she started calmly. _'Yeah, like that'll work."_

"Hn." She could feel his hot breath on her neck, and to her dismay, she kind of liked it.

"Er…so what's happening to you?" She might as well get connected with her ex-teammate while she can.

"Tch. You're annoying," he stated before crushing his lips to hers…and it left her flustered. Thousands of questions ran through her mind, and because of that, she just had to end the kiss.

"Why are you doing this? Do you enjoy playing with my feelings?!" she started, forcing herself to get back to reality.

"Well don't tell me you're not enjoying this, because you are. I know you like me."

"You arrogant bastard!" she screeched, "Those feelings were a long time ago. People change. I changed, I'm over you." _'yeah right…'_

"Stop denying it, I can tell by the way look appreciatively at me." He smirked as he lightly traced her jaw.

"Rapist! Tell me, how many women have you emotionally played with? Heck, how many women have you trapped and 'played' with like you're going to do with me?" she venomously spat.

Sasuke was a bit taken back by her words…not something he'd expect her to say. A sly grin came across his face as he leaned forward, his lips brushing her ear. "I have to say, I have, regrettably, been with women. But to tell you the truth, no women will satisfy me, except for you."

Sakura blushed heavily at his words. Damn, he was good. And she felt him tracing a trail of kisses down her neck; she tried not to give in to him.

'_Traitor' _a voice in her head firmly stated. _'Bastard, heart-breaker...'_

He started nipping on her ear. She had to resist.His lips pressed against hers again.

She felt the temptation to kiss back, and swing her arms around her neck—but no, not now. His hands combed through her silky hair.

'_Traitor, traitor, HOT traitor…no wait…_God, she was losing this battle. He was just too good. A thousand emotions were running through her head…hatred, lust, guilt... and then it happened…she snapped…and lost control—to him.

She kissed passionately back, hands gripping his hair. The other swung around his neck, pulling him forward.

A devoted kunoichi, and an S-ranked criminal. Two opposites. But to every one else, they were no different. Any passersby walking through that alley would see nothing new, only the usual two teenagers' lips locked. A girl and a boy. Simple as that. Except it was just so more complicated, running deeper than what the civilians saw.

But she felt guilty. She could feel his tongue prying her lips open and pushing in…She really did want to feel what it was like to be a normal horny teenager, but in this situation, she couldn't. He wasn't normal. She gave a small moan…and became instantly mortified.

She had to have self control. And with all the will power she could summon, she pushed him off her.

"You're trying too hard…" he stated, disappointment within his voice.

"This just isn't right…and unlike you, I do have a reputation at stake" she looked away and stood up.

"Well don't think that the concept of 'right' will stop me from pursuing you," he smirked.

And that was it. She ran, not daring to look back, refusing to think about the guilty deed she just committed.

He looked forward at her departing figure as a smug expression was plastered over his face.

* * *

She sprinted out into the running streets, away from him… 

"Sakura-chan, you lose!" Naruto yelled as he held up his chopsticks from afar.

…and she ran, away from her guilt.

* * *

um...this was longer than the other chapters...sorry if it sounds a bit rushed, but ...ok, i admit, i have no real excuse for the rush-ness sounding, but i'll think of one..later...anways, REVIEW pleaazzee:)


	5. Chapter 5

THANNNKKKK YOOOUUUU for the reviews! I'd bow down to you all if I didn't have a hard time moving from eating all those valentine chocolates. (great, now I feel so guilty...I must run a thousand laps, like Lee!)

* * *

He sat there silently, staring hard at the general.

"…and so we believe that the killer must be from Konoha, seeing that we allowed a Konoha shinobi in, right before the murder…"

His blood boiled, never forgetting that event.

"..and so please tell me again, as you have witnessed it. Who did the killer who slaughtered Kimura Kano, your respected father as well as the village's leader, look like?"

"He had red eyes and spiky black hair…like a duck's butt"

How could he forget? This murder had left him scared, and opened up a new aspect in life for him. Pain. Crimes. Death. The world was a cruel and crooked place, enveloped in darkness as people try to cover up the truth with lies and deceiving smiles.

It was all before the brutal murder, his life was…perfect to say the least. He was spoiled, getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He had servants at his side, and his father made sure everything happened the way he wanted it to be.

He was raised in an isolated environment, shielded from the outside world. He had grown in a safe and simple world; a world where babies came from storks and the sun existed only to shine on him…a world that revolved around him.

The small boy looked down, a sad expression on his face. "Please, that Konoha shinobi—or whatever he was—shouldn't be kept wandering around! He should be killed! The way he executed father was….horrifying."

Fake tears ran down his cheek. Fake. He was acting as an innocent boy that lost his father. But he wasn't innocent.

"It makes me shudder just remembering the event. The blood, the corpse….Konoha is evil! Why do evil people do this? Why are there evil people?"

The general stared at the young boy, pity in his heart. The kid was only twelve and had already lost his father. He ruffled the boy's cocoa brown hair and gave a reassuring smile.

"We will get that evil man who killed your father. As for Konoha—they will pay for ever wanting to mess with this village. We are a strong village, and nobody will mess with us!" the general stood up, walking away to talk with the village's wise elders.

The child looked up and gave a small smile back before looking back at his feet. It was a fact: Kimura Sadao was corrupted.

The violence had tainted the ever so loyal boy into a twisted being. His heart rejoiced over other's pain. Everyone must feel what he had gone through, the disgusting little thing called pain.

His mind was on that man. The man he hated. The red eyed man with the katana. That man would pay.

Yet those that surrounded him: the servants, maids, elders; never knew of what that boy has become. To them, he would always be the angelic, sweet boy who battered his eyelashes to please others. He was the opposite. He was a monster.

And all because of Uchiha Sasuke, the world was becoming more corrupted than it already was as the village readied itself for a catastrophic war.

* * *

The violet haired women squirmed closer to the raven haired man, hoping for more warmth and comfort. But that just couldn't happen.

He was a cold hearted bastard. Uchiha Sasuke immediately distanced himself from the woman, getting off the bed.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, giving her an icy glare.

"What am I doing? Snuggling of course!" she blushed, looking away, "I mean, we just made love."

He moved further back, clenching his teeth. "We did not make _love. _I do not _love _you. You're nothing more to me than any other prostitute."

She gritted her teeth, glaring furiously at the man before her. "Of course we did! What am I to you? A good fuck?!" she grabbed his arm, "Look here, I'm not a goddamn prostitute. Do you know how lucky you are to have me? I don't 'do it' with just any guy."

He jerked his arm out of her grip. "Really? I thought you just wanted a one night stand. You tried to _seduce _me yesterday, and you didn't even introduce yourself. Heck, I don't even know your name."

He began to walk off, ignoring her.

"What the hell?! Who do you think you are, thinking you're better than everyone else?! I'm the best there is! There's no woman out there that will ever compare to me! Stop it right there!" the woman ranted.

"Hn."

"Don't just 'hn' me you egoistic—" The sentence was never finished. All was heard was the "thump" as a lifeless body hit the floor.

The crimson blood dripped from his katana, no regret or remorse within Sasuke's eyes. Several things that annoying woman said was true. He was egoistic, though he'll never admit it. But she was also wrong.

Wrong that there's not other great women out there. She wasn't even that great.

During their whole intimate act, he could only see pink hair and green eyes. And when he murmured out "her" name, then name of the real woman that stole his attention, in pure ecstasy, the purple haired lady underneath him completely brushed off the incident, thinking he may had have a love for spring and cherry blossoms.

Why do women have to be so…annoying? After a hook up, they expect it to morph into some type of relationship and get all touchy-feeling when they find out they were never a couple in the first place. Women were so…whatever. Not like it mattered to him.

And with his cooling demeanor, he walked out of the dreaded hotel, no shame, no remorse. It was as though nothing ever happened…

* * *

Grumbles and swears were made from the injured shinobis, panting and struggling to fight.

"Why do you attack us? What have we ever done to you?!" the captain of the team yelled, cradling his wounded arm.

"What have you done to us? You should know perfectly well, konoha-ninja. You backstabber!" the men replied.

The men bearing swords and weapons threw kunais aimed at the injured shinobis. The Konoha ninjas dodged, ready to fight with the last ounce of the energy and will-power. They readied themselves as the men from the mysterious village charged forward…

And the team from Konoha was no more.

* * *

"What?!!" she slammed her fist into the table, splintering and cracking under her contact.

The messenger edged away, slightly shaken.

"The bodies were found in the forest, Tsunade-hime. They were from Konoha, most likely an ambush," the messenger fidgeted, not enjoying being in the same room with the angered woman.

She pondered about the situation. So there was an attack from a village that she not-so-long ago assigned a mission to. And this was how they repaid Konoha?!

She sighed, "Was there all that was found at the scene of the crime? Only bodies?"

"N-no, I was just about to tell you this, but there was also a message there. It—"

"A message? What did it say, and on where?!"

"I-it was inscribed on this piece of paper here found on the body of one of our shinobis," he brought out a slip of paper, giving it to the blonde.

Her brown eyes scanned the paper.

"Konoha will pay?" she looked up at the man, "pay for what?"

"We are unsure of what the writers of the message mean, but Anbu doesn't believe the people mean paying for physical objects. We believe that they mean they're going to get revenge—"

"Yes, I know! But for what? What have we done in the past few months that may have stirred up a commotion?!" her eye twitched. It was so hard these days being a Hokage.

"Nothing that could have been that bad. But there was a complaint that one of our genins over fed a cat on a D ranked missi--"

"No! I meant, have we done anything insulting, or something that may have angered others?! No one would go on an act of revenge over a cat!"

The man looked away, deep in thought, "I say…I don't..think..so."

The hokage contemplated over the entire situation. The families of those shinobis who died will be distressed. And by the looks of it, the message was some kind of threat. No one threatened Konoha…

"I will talk with the elders of how to respond to this situation. As for now, go alert Anbu to be on guard, and get me another desk!" she looked down to the wooden desk she smashed with her bare hand.

"I'm afraid that this event will lead to a war," the blonde mumbled looking out the window of the Hokage's tower.

"Hai!" the man left without a word.

And to the dismay of so many, the event did lead to what everyone feared it to become…a war.

* * *

Sakura looked down to her feet, sadness within her heart. It was time.

The anbu in front of her dashed off, leaving her door front empty.

Her heart wrenched at the thought of people dying, children dying. Why did this war have to start?

Her eyes narrowed, before leaning onto her wall with a depressed sigh. It was time for her to go out into the battlefield where all the action was and heal the wounded.

She couldn't stand it! The screams, the blood, the nonsense fighting. But it was part of a life of a shinobi, no matter how much she hated it. And now it was her time to take part in the fighting.

All because a stupid village decided to attack Konoha for reasons unknown. The day the hokage announced a war on that village made her sick to her stomache. She couldn't stand the fact of people dying, or anyone she knew dying.

Sakura pushed herself off the wall and packed her belongings. She looked at the picture, the picture of Team 7, and smiled to herself. Everyone in the picture looked so…peaceful. Well, except for Sasuke, who looked as plain as stone; but everyone else…peaceful.

Sakura placed the picture back on the bedside, before looking out the window. It would be a long time before she'll encounter something peaceful again.

The wind blew heavily as she got out of her apartment, following the rest of the shinobis being sent out. Sakura watched as other shinobis waved good bye to their family, hugging them before departing. Afterall, this could be the last time any family member saw that person again.

When she reached the outskirts of the village she inhaled one, long deep breath, gazing at the immense place. As she sadly walked away from her beloved village, Sakura looked ahead, hopeful that she may see her friends again. Maybe.

The temperature seemed colder that day as Sakura made her way out of Konoha and into the war zone.

* * *

Screams, explosions, and cries for mercy; the battlefield was everything she expected it to be, _but worse._ Never had she brought herself to visualize what the war would look like, and it was even worse hearing it.

Thinking of what war is like is one thing, being in one is another. The atmosphere was gloomy and the place smelled of death.

Superficial cuts covered Sakura's arm from a previous attack, a lot less visible after she healed them.

From afar, came an agonizing cry asking for help. The kunoichi swiveled around and ran to the place where she heard the pain.

There laid a man with a deep gash, broken arms flopping helplessly, a Leaf hitaite on his forehead.

Sakura crouched next to him, examining him. Her hands hovered over the wounds, glowing green as the cuts slowly began to mend.

"Oh th-thank y-you," the injured man looked at Sakura, "I can't wait 'til this war is over, then I can see my children again. You are from Konoha, right?"

"Hai. Stay still, healing is going to take awhile," the kunoichi looked at the man and gave an assuring smile.

"I'm so glad you came, I would have die—ahh!" the kunoichi jumped back as shuriken lodged into the man's side, blood poured out of the opening.

"Look what we have here, a little girl. The hair color is weird, but I have to say she's pretty cute," a bald man said as he and a group of men appeared, not so far away. By the looks of it, the man who gave the statement was probably the leader; by the way all the others seemed to follow his moves.

"You! You killed the man when he was in no condition to fight, you bastard!" Sakura growled, her fists tightening.

"It's a war, honey. Every man for himself. Can't stand the fighting? Well how about you let me protect you…" another man to the side of the leader stated, eyeing the kunoichi.

"No thanks, it'll probably end up with _me _protecting _you_. You guys must be pretty weak, killing those already injured," her voice was cold.

The men laughed. The bald man had a wide grin on his face. "You think we're weak, little girl? How about we try to change your mind on that?"

The group of men positioned themselves into fighting stances, weapons in hands. They must have been shinobi, pretty weak shinobis by the looks of it. But nonetheless, there were _more _of them, and being outnumbered was still a big dilemma even if they were weak.

Where was her knight in shining armor when she needed it? Sakura rolled her eyes at the thought of somebody coming in to save her.

Before anyone made a move, Sakura threw multiple kunais at the men. With luck, some of the sharp weapons hit the more slow reacting men. All the lips curved down to a frown when the group of ninjas realized that the pink haired kunoichi was seriously going to fight.

A ninja with a dirty blonde hair ran forward, before being blown with many other back by the impact of Sakura's fist landing onto the earth. The group of men stood there, stunned of what had just happened.

The leader sneered, "Oh, you're pretty strong for a little girl, eh? Well we're strong too!"

Punch, dodge, kick, counter. Her chakra was decreasing, and the earlier healing on the man had took a toll on her chakra supply. With every chakra filled punch came a few men unconscious from the blow. But every attack made her grow more tired; each attack having less power than the first.

Sakura panted, bending to rest her hands on her knees. She was at the point of collapsing. She looked up and glared at the bald man that had a malicious look on his face, his face contorted as a few men stood at his side, scratched and bruised.

"You've ran out of energy kunoichi. But it would be so sad to see you die, especially a little girl as pretty as you."

"Go rot in hell bastard."

The leader was by her in an instant kicking her hard in the stomach, she falling down. He pulled her up from the ground with a strong grip on her hair. Her jade eyes leveled with him as he forced herself to look at him. Wasn't there anybody there to rescue her?

"Ah, a tough one aren't you? So pretty, yet so violent. You won't be so tough once your heavily bleeding and.."

"AHH!" a man standing behind the leader crumpled onto the floor as a sharp kunai pierced through his heart

The leader swiveled back, staring at the killer.

"Leave her alone."

Sakura fell back onto the ground, holding onto her stomach where it hurt like heck from the kick.

"Who the hell are you?!" the bald man yelled, grabbing onto a nearby blade.

The kunoichi turned her head up to see the savior. A shadow was cast over her as she squinted her eyes, trying to see who rescued her.

"None of your business."

The leader stared at his dead comrades who, in an instant, fell to the ground. His eyes widened in horror as he took a step back from the murderer.

Sakura frowned, listening to the scream given by the bald man before he died. Her eyes readjusted to the light, and looked at her savior. Her emerald eyes widened, her lips mouthing the name, "Uchiha Sasuke."

His crimson eyes had a small trace of concern as he looked down at her lying figure.

Not really what she had in mind for her "knight in shining armor".

* * *

Confusing? I know, the events skip back and forth. I know it sounds rushed...yet again. but all I can say is...UGH! yeah, i think so too! Anways, this is where the plot goes into _motion. _Enjoy spring break! ...and yet again REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.


	6. Chapter 6

:)))) thnks to those who reviewed! no thanks to school and tests:((((

* * *

She was saved, yes, and that was the good news. Sakura would have laughed and cheer at how fortuitous she was for this last second save, if is wasn't for the fact that her savior was Uchiha Sasuke.

It was like old days; she would watch from the sidelines unable to do anything as the stronger, greater, SASUKE fought the enemies. It was like the past was being played right in front of her eyes, only this time Sasuke was stronger, _deadlier_.

Sakura got onto her feet again, staring in horror as the Uchiha neared. She only gawked as he came closer, trying her best to keep her legs firmly planted on the ground. She shouldn't run; running showed weakness.

"Um…thanks…I guess," she was unable to look into his eyes.

"…Where are they?"

She gave him a confused look.

"Your teammates. You obviously weren't sent onto the battlefield alone."

Sakura closed her eyes and pondered. She did enter the battlefield with two other jounins. Where were they again?

"Dead," she mumbled, her voice soft.

"Ah."

She flinched as he took another step closer; she was still injured from the previous fight. Sakura looked up; jade eyes meeting with his onyx ones. The eye contact broke as he turned around and began to walk away, only to pause and look back. He didn't expect her to actually follow him, did he?

"Are you going to just stand there?" he sounded impatient.

"Wh-what?!"

"You're injured and your teammates are gone. If you continue fighting, you might as well prepare your funeral."

Sakura couldn't help but agree, feeling a little helpless and vulnerable. She couldn't properly move without feeling the aches from the battle, and she was chakra depleted.

"Come on, I'm going. If you get ambushed, it's not my fault," he said, moving ahead as she stared forward dumbfounded.

She watched his departing figure as he went ahead. A little uneasy, the pink-haired girl looked around hoping for someone or something to all of a sudden appear with answers on what to what to do in this situation. Nothing. Knowing she had little if no choice, she hesitantly followed, running up to him.

"So…where are you going?" She raised a brow, not really expecting an answer.

"A nearby village; so we'll have a place to rest."

"Oh…and how about…you know, the Akatsuki and everything?" She was a little uncomfortable about bringing up this topic, but her curiosity took the best of her.

"In a war, the most important thing to worry about is surviving. All my hard work of training would be wasted if I were to die in the war while searching for Itachi."

"Oh, so you're not taking any risks…" She nodded in approval at his logic. They walked in silence for a while, she looking back nervously every now and then for any Konoha shinobi.

They proceeded out of the battlefield. The sounds of explosions and yells were slowly diminishing, the smell of smoke and blood no longer lingering in the air. They had gone to the point where the ground was plain, only grass; no corpse and weapons.

She furrowed her brows, deep in thought._'What am I doing?! If somebody sees me, I'll be labeled as a traitor! Uh…I can always say I was forced to follow, that I was a captive. But that seems so…wrong to do.'_

"Hn."

Sakura shifted her eyes forward to Sasuke, no longer in her thoughts. He pointed forward, and her gaze followed. A village.

"What if enemy shinobi kills us while we're wandering—"

"They won't"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How do you know?"

"From what I heard, this village is not associated with this war. Only Konoha and several other villages are."

"Oh," she looked away, uncertain to believe him or not.

* * *

They entered the village, walking through the streets acting as casual as possible. Villagers took quick glances at them; Sakura a little uneasy at there stares, Sasuke paying no mind. Maybe it was because of Sasuke's katana, or the fact that her skin was layered with dried blood and her hair was disheveled, or maybe because her hair was _pink_…

"Where are you going?" a voice interrupted her thoughts from behind, Sasuke leaning against a doorway.

Sakura had apparently been so lost in thought that she walked ahead, not noticing when Sasuke turned to walk into a building.

"Oh!" she blushed in embarrassment, quickly heading into the building. She did a once over of the place; a counter, some couches, and stairs. This was a small hotel.

Sasuke was heading towards the counter before Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face where she stood, raising a brow.

"I'm hungry, I'm going to buy some dango. Are you hungry? I'll buy you some," she asked, her stomach growling.

He shook his head. She pulled out her wallet before frowning at its content.

"I don't have that much money, how about you?" He shook his head again.

"…Well, I guess…"

"We need to save our money, so we'll just get one room," he stated, as though reading her thoughts. She blushed at his statement, looking down at her feet.

"Er…fine with me. So just get a room for two," the words sounded weird when she said it, "I mean, like a room with two separate beds in it! You know, like when somebody asks for a room for two, they mea—"she stopped when she realized she was rambling.

"I'm going to get some dango," she walked towards the exit, "remember, ask for two separate beds!"

"I know," he said before continuing to the counter.

Behind the counter, stood a lady with charcoal black hair that reached to her hips, her expression showing she was bored. The lady behind the counter continued examining her manicure even as Sasuke walked in front of her.

"Hn." She lifted her head, immediately blushing at the man in front of her.

"O-oh, hey! What can I do for you today?" she battered her eyelashes at him.

"I'd like a room," he bluntly replied, oblivious to her acts to try and gain his attention.

"So you're visiting this village?" she leaned forward and twisted her black locks in her finger, not paying attention to how Sasuke moved back, "I could show you around whenever you want, I know this village pretty well."

"No. Anyways, I'd like a room for two."

"Oh, okay…," she looked downwards, sounding disappointed from being rejected and finding out he was with another person. She looked up again, still having small hopes that the other who was staying with him was only a friend or family.

"Single bed or two separate beds?" she asked, silently praying for him to choose the latter.

"…"

"I said, single bed or two—"

"…single bed," he replied, cutting her off. All hopes within the girl were stomped.

* * *

Sakura wandered the streets, neglecting the perverted stares from several men, and the confused glances from others. She must have looked so out of place, especially with that noticeable pink hair of hers.

She mentally celebrated when she found a dango shop in the corner. After ordering some dango, and trying her best not to punch the snot out of those children who were laughing at her hair, she made her way back to the hotel.

Sakura took in the sight of the village like a curious child, looking at each building and taking her time. A bulletin board was placed on a wall of one of the buildings, covered in recent news and advertisements. She took a brief glance at several advertisements, before a particular picture caught her eye.

Her eyes widened and she gave a small gasp as she scanned the paper the picture was on, looking around for anybody watching before ripping the paper from the board and taking it with her.

She hurried through the streets, urgent to show Sasuke. Pushing the door open, she passed the women at the counter.

Going up the steps seemed to take forever. It then finally hit her; she didn't even know where her room was. With a frustrated sigh, she ran back down the stairs again and up to the black haired lady on the first floor.

"Excuse me."

The lady continued filing her nails.

"Excuse me!" she repeated, this time a little louder. The lady's attention averted away from her manicure.

"Yes?" the lady asked bitterly, rolling her eyes as though this was a waste of time.

Sakura frowned. _'What got into that lady?' _

"Do you know what room where a certain man is in? I mean, I forgot to ask him what room he's in. He has raven colored hair, onyx eyes…" she stopped when she saw the look of confusion on the woman's face. _'She's dumber than she looks! I guess my words are to complex for her prehistoric mind to comprehend.'_

"He has _black_ hair and eyes and he can be a little…rude," Sakura clarified, speaking slowly for the woman to understand.

"Oh, _him_" the lady scrunched her nose with a look of disgust, "you must be that _other _person he's staying with."

"So you know where he is?" the kunoichi asked tilting her head.

"He's in room 53, second floor," the black haired lady replied, glaring daggers at Sakura.

Sakura raised a brow as she moved away, relieved to finally be away from the impolite woman.

* * *

"Wow, bad luck there," her cheeks tinted with pink, "they only had single-bed rooms left?"

"Yeah," Sasuke lied.

"Oh, well that's expected. They probably didn't check thoroughly since the service her sucks. Especially that counter lady," Sakura stated, narrowing her eyes.

She walked into the bathroom, rummaging through the drawers before seeing a comb near the sink.

With a relieved sigh, Sakura made her way to the bed. She ran the comb through her tangled mess of pink strands, glad to finally have descent hair. Once she was satisfied with her hair, she set the comb down.

Sasuke leaned against the wall, watching her. He ran a hand through his messy hair, not doing anything about it. He really didn't get why women would waste time managing their hair…

He saw Sakura taking out a crumpled piece of paper, flattening it out on the bed. She then turned to him.

"Care to explain?" she asked, holding up the paper.

He snatched the paper out of her hand seeing a picture of his face on it. Oh, a wanted poster.

"Who exactly is Kimura Sadao? And why is he putting such a high reward to see you turned in to him?"

Kimura Sadao? He remembered killing that lying, cheating Kimura Kano…but no one was there to witness the murder. Except… that boy! Of course! Kimura Sadao was that guy's son! Useless, good-for-nothing brat, he spared his life and this is what he gets?

"I don't recall," he lied.

She looked at him unconvinced, taking the paper again. "Well this isn't good. What do you think we should do?"

"Kill the guy." His stared forward, his face impassive.

"We can't do that! Then _both _of us will be wanted!"

"Then I guess we'll have to leave no traces behind, no evidence that will link the murder to us."

"You must be good at that I bet, _assassination_," Sakura glared at him, emphasizing the last word.

"I guess I am," he answered.

"…Wait a minute, why should I even be helping you?!" she asked.

"I did you a favor by saving your life, now you do me a favor by saving mine. Simple as that."

"I-I could have handled that guy and his group by myself!"

"Really?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow, "when I came there, you were on the ground. Unless lying on the ground was part of some jutsu you were doing…"

Sakura was about to retaliate back, but stopped herself when she had nothing. With a frustrated growl, Sakura stormed into the bathroom taking the comb and what little she had left of her pride.

* * *

Sakura took a good, long look in the mirror, making sure she looked alright. The blood was washed off, and she felt as good as new.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Sakura scanned the room for her backpack. The kunoichi rushed to the bag, her damp hair dripping droplets onto her backpack. Pushing her hair aside, she took out a spare pair of clothes as her old, blood crusted ones were in the washers of the hotel.

A chill ran up her spine as she felt Sasuke's eyes boring into her. She pulled her towel up further, hoping to cover herself as best as she could. Sakure then returned to the bathroom to change, her face flushed.

Sasuke stared at the spot where Sakura stood, wet with a limp towel on. He considered himself lucky not gaining a giant nose bleed, but he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas didn't have nosebleeds.

Now it was up to his imagination to visualize what was _under _that towel, and he was ever so curious. Well, if he was only _desperate_ would need to use his "imagination". He always preferred seeing the real thing rather than some dreamt up one. Uchiha Sasuke didn't dream, he had better things to do.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep," Sakura said as she stepped out of the bathroom, clean, fresh clothes on.

"Hn."

"I sleep on this side," she pointed to the left of the bed, "and you sleep on that side," she pointed to the other side of the bed speaking slowly as though talking to a three year old.

No response.

"And don't try to do anything sneaky, okay?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"No touching, no feeling…"

"Do you think I'd take advantage of you while you're sleeping?"

Sakura widened her eyes and her jaw dropped, taken a bit off guard by his question before quickly recomposing herself.

"Yes."

"Then don't, because I won't"

"…"

"And no groping," she continued waving aside his words, "no…"

"Just go to sleep."

"No—"

"Go to sleep." It was an order.

"Fine," she uttered, giving him a glare as she pulled the blanket over her.

It was only a couple of minutes before she succumbed to dreamland. By the sound of her breathing, he could tell she was already fast asleep. She must have been pretty exhausted. Sasuke got onto the bed, laying down.

He could feel the heat radiating from Sakura. God, he was in the same bed WITH SAKURA. He could hear her soft breathing and turned his head to have a glance of her.

She looked so at peace, maybe he could…No! He said he wouldn't take advantage. Damn hormones. Well maybe if he could make it look like an accident…

Sasuke growled forcing himself to turn away from her. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to avert his attention away from the sleeping woman next to him. Why did he ask for a single bed in the first place again?

Sasuke clenched his teeth; he didn't know what was worse. Having a reward for his capture by some little brat, or having to resist his bodily needs?

One thing was for sure: Hormones suck, and so will the rest of this trip.

* * *

...i don't know why, but i liked writing this chapter. Like, Hate, opinions, etc.? REVIEW! it makes me smile:)))


	7. Chapter 7

to those who reviewed!! :)))))) i'm SOO happy!! yes, i haven't updated in like, forever, but it's here right?

Disclaimer: if naruto belonged to me, the uchiha clan would have already been restored. ;) wink

* * *

Eyes fluttered open to reveal the glowing jade beneath them. Her eyes adjusted to the sunlight pouring through the window. The first thing that came to Sakura's mind when she woke up was, _"Where the hell am I?!"_

Always being a slow thinker in the morning, it took her several minutes of blankly staring at a wall as she lay on her side until she could finally retrace what she did the previous day.

She recalled the events that took place in the battlefield, and then it all of a sudden hit her: Sasuke! Sakura continued to lie in bed, refusing to bring herself to look at Sasuke...or maybe it was because she was lazy.

As her mind finally started working again, she realized something else: she was in an awkward position, sprawled onto the mattress with one of her legs dangling off of the mattress. She had, afterall, always been slow in the morning.

Sakura immediately shot up and moved to her side of the bed. Jade met black as their eyes met. Sitting right across the bed, sat Sasuke, seated on the table facing the bed. An uncomfortable silence began, both just…staring.

Immediately finding the situation awkward, Sakura cleared her throat.

"So…did you sleep at all?"

"Hn."

"I don't know about you, but I feel better," Sakura lifted her arms and stretched before returning them back to her side.

"You were snoring," he said.

"Excuse me?" The corner of her lips tugged into a frown.

"…and you took up too much room."

"What are you trying to imply?" her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You move too much in your sleep," he smirked, purposely ignoring her angered look. She stared, not knowing if she should believe him or not. That guy definitely had the nerve.

"…And here you were telling me to keep my hands to myself…It seems like _you'_re the one trying to get away with touching…"

Her anger flared. "I know my personal space, it's not my fault I can't control what I do while I'm sleeping! And mind you, if you actually slept like me and everyone else in the world, I'm pretty sure you would snore too…Heck, you would snore louder than…!!"

She let out a small squeak when her rant was muffled by soft lips pressed against her own. She was startled at first, overwhelmed at what was happening. Realizing she could be taking advantage of this, Sakura's temper died down, her attention turning to the kiss. Just as quick as it started, the kiss came to an abrupt end.

Dissatisfaction and a bit of sadness were visible on her face when she felt him removing his lips from her own.

Through half-lidded eyes, she murmured a disappointed "Sasuke", caught off guard when his lips hungrily crashed down on hers again. Her hands made its way up to grip his messy raven hair, the other wrapping around his neck to deepen the kiss.

Her mind went blank because of this thrilling sensation. Everything felt so good: his hand weaving through her hair, his soft, luscious lips against her own, the skillful tongue that expertly explored her mouth…She just wanted to forget…anything to forget about the war and the wanted posters. But a deep, low grumble of her stomach kicked her back into reality. Sakura pulled away from the kiss, blushing madly.

"Ummm…I guess it's time for breakfast…" her eyes rested on the window, trying to get her mind off what she—no, they—were doing a few minutes ago. _'What am I to you?'_

Sasuke growled at her statement while his eyes darkened, obviously displeased.

"You eat too much," he said, inwardly hoping her to completely forget her needs, and satisfy his needs, which were much more important of course.

"Well sorry I have to depend on food to survive." Sakura rolled her eyes, "I'll get you something when I come back."

"I'm coming with you."

"Fine, but first you need a disguise…"

"No."

"Sasuke! We need a disguise or someone will identify you! What if somebody identifies you and you get caught?"

"I'll kill them." Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"You can't kill everyone, you know. That's probably how you got into this situation in the first place! Now, do you think you can stay in a henge for possibly several days? The villages around here are spaced quite far apart, so we'll be traveling for days. "

"That's a waste of chakra."

Sakura groaned, slapping her forehead. The man was so stubborn. She didn't understand why he _wouldn't _want a disguise, seeing he's being searched for…Oh wait, that's right, because he was probably scared he'd look _stupid _in a disguise and it would harm his bigger-than-life ego.

"Come on, I'll just buy you a wig and a different set of clothes." Sakura attempted once again, "as well as sunglasses."

She quickly added a "temporarily" to the end of her suggestion to dispel the glare being sent to her. When he didn't respond, she took it that he had finally given in.

"So I'll go get you a disguise right now. By myself," he glared at her again, "Don't worry about me getting raped and stuff. I'm old enough to manage myself…really." Another silence.

Seeing there were no more complaints, Sakura slowly made her way to the door. Her hand gripped the door knob, pausing for a second before hesitantly pushing the door open. She quickly made her way out of the uncomfortable, suffocating atmosphere within the room, closing the door behind her. First stop: some clothes.

* * *

Sakura clutched the load of shopping bags, winding through the streets towards a nearby salon, the only place within the village known to sell wigs. Her cheeks were tinted with red, embarrassed over the fact that she actually asked people where they sold wigs. Sakura shuddered at the thought of having to _buy _one of those heaps of hair.

Her free hand pushed the door open, revealing an empty salon. Along the sides were shelves lined with a variety of wigs, ranging from normal every-day hair to those just plain absurd.

"Hello! How may I help you today?" an elderly woman asked from the back, brown hair tied into a neat bun.

"Oh, I'm just here to look for…a wig." Out of all the challenges within her life, Sakura found this task one of the most difficult. The words were foreign when Sakura spoke them, and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball of humiliation.

"Well!" the woman walked over to the shelf of wigs, pulling out a platinum blonde one, "This wig here will fit that pretty face of yours. Also, it's perfect for hiding that strange _pink_ hair of yours."

A vein popped onto Sakura's forehead, one of her fists tightening. "The wig isn't for _me, _it's for a guy."

"Ah! Many people come here to buy wigs for their fathers. It's a perfect gift for those whose parents are aging. I think—"

"No!" Sakura shook her head _'It's for a disguise because this guy I know has a big sum of money on his head!'_, "I mean, I'm not buying a wig for my _dad. _I'm buying it for…my boyfriend. H-he's….balding. I think I'll just look at the wigs first." The woman nodded moving back to resume whatever she was doing.

Her eyes scanned the rows of wigs. An evil grin made its way to her face when her eyes came over the crazy wigs consisting of green-hair, Mohawks, and other unordinary styles. She could imagine it now: _'Sorry Sasuke, but those were the only ones left.'_

Of course, she could never get one of those wigs onto Sasuke because of that inflated ego. Heck, she would be lucky enough to actually get him to wear a wig.

Finding a descent looking short, dark coffee brown wig, Sakura handed some money to the owner of the store and rushed out. Sakura checked off her accomplishments on her mental check list and sighed…Now all that was left was the hardest part: getting Sasuke to actually wear the wig.

* * *

"You know, it would have been a lot easier if you just didn't _wear _that Uchiha clan symb—"

"No"

"Look at it this way, not many people wear the Uchiha clan symbol. You're like the only one out there, everyone will identify you!"

He stayed quiet for a while before mumbling a soft "fine".

The medic-nin spent a quick few seconds congratulating herself on persuading Sasuke to change his appearance. Sakura took a step back to admire her work…and have a good laugh at the Uchiha. The original shirt Sasuke wore that parted with a V-cut that exposed his well-toned abs was replaced with a plain, sleeveless shirt that was a dark shade of blue-green.

The extremely baggy black pants were replaced with grey trousers (Sakura reasoned that nobody would ever expect THE Uchiha Sasuke to _not_ wear black clothing), and the distinguishable purple rope was gone. His face was hidden behind large, black sunglasses that would have made Shino proud.

"I look silly."

"No, you don't look silly," Sakura grabbed something from her bag, extending her arms to place the dark brown wig she bought earlier upon his spiky hair. "_Now_ you look silly."

Sasuke growled and narrowed his eyes as Sakura adjusted the wig to make it look more natural.

"The sooner we kill the guy, the sooner I can take this disguise off," Sasuke mumbled. He grabbed their backpacks, throwing one to her.

"Let's go."

She nodded, finding it useless to argue.

* * *

The entire trip had been long and dull, taking over a span of several days. The medic-nin found starting a conversation hard, but keeping one was much more difficult. Her former teammate was as boring as ever, only giving monosyllabic words in response to her questions. Every now and then an enemy ninja would attack; but before Sakura could even pull out a kunai, Sasuke would already have his katana in hand and the enemies lying in a pool of their own blood.

It seemed as though the missing-nin was never exhausted. The few times they did stop for a rest was only because of Sakura, who would constantly complain over her aching feet.

The sun was already setting as Sakura struggled to keep up with the Uchiha. Refusing to accept the fact that he had more stamina than her, she reasoned he was always ahead only because he had longer strides, nothing more.

The kunoichi nearly missed bumping into Sasuke as he went into an abrupt halt. She grinned, wiping off sweat from her forehead and bending over to rest her hands on her knees. She straightened her posture and looked at the brown haired man. (Sakura grew accustomed to the wig over time).

"What? You're finally tired?" she teased, "And I was beginning to think Uchihas don't get exhausted."

"I'm stopping because we're nearing the village where our target lies. We're going to stay at this village for now and plan everything out," Sasuke said, his eyes staring straight ahead.

Sakura followed his gaze and found herself staring at a poor, filthy-looking village, much less sanitary than the ones she visited before.

She scrunched her nose, taking a good look at the streets_. 'Apparently the village doesn't have a sewer system or a landfill'_, Sakura observed while walking. The streets were filled with waste, and…Sakura made a life-saving leap that narrowly avoided the item on the ground…Are those droppings? She refused to think of the animal that left _those _behind.

The pink-haired girl shook her head. You didn't have to be a medic-nin to know it wasn't healthy to live in these conditions. She held her breath, as the air smelled like a mixture of Naruto's laundry, rotting flesh, and diapers.

She took a glance at Sasuke, whose face remained impassive. He must have either be good at masking his discomfort of this place, or he has a stuffy nose…or, Sakura shuddered, Orochimaru must've had living conditions similar to these and Sasuke became immune to stench…It's possible with all those nasty experiments lying around. Who was supposed to clean up after those barbaric sound ninjas and that filthy snake? Kabuto?

The pink haired ninja sighed with relief when after scouting the village, the pair happened to stumble upon one of the village's rare, descent hotel. And finding a hotel that didn't have a pile of manure that was the first thing to greet them in the entrance was HARD, with a capital "H".

After assuring Sasuke (who, suspiciously, kept insisting for him to get them a room) that she could get a room for the two by herself (well it's not like she was going to get ambushed on her way to the counter or something), Sakura managed to get a pretty cheap room…with two beds this time!

She could have sworn she saw a bit of disappointment within Sasuke's eyes when she told him she got a room with separate beds…or maybe it was just her. Sakura was actually quite surprised at his reaction when she informed him. She half expected him to at least smile (yes, smile)…he did afterall say she "snored" and "took up too much room" and "touched him during his sleep." So sleeping in two different beds was a good thing, right?

* * *

Turning the rusted old doorknob, Sakura took a deep, long breath, crossed her fingers, and pushed the door open. The room was…plain. No decorations, no complimentary items, it looked as though the person who designed this room had only the intentions for it to be slept in…nothing more.

Within the room were two, simple beds that were rather small. On the side of the room was a small window with no curtains, matching the "plain" theme. The walls looked as though they were originally orange, but over time the pain lost its colors and started chipping off. The bathroom was, unsurprisingly, small but had what an ordinary bathroom _should_ have: a sink, toilet, and a shower (even though several of the tiles were stained yellow and cracked)

'_Hey, it could be worse…like cockroaches!' _Sakura nodded at the room in approval. She was relieved to finally be able to rest after a lengthy trip with the man that never got tired. All she wanted was to fall onto that oh-so inviting bed, which beat sleeping in the forests, _any day_.

"Sakura," a voice cut her thoughts.

She turned to Sasuke who lazily threw his wig to the floor and seated himself on the bed.

"We need to discuss how to assassinate this guy, Kimura Sadao. I already know my way around the place the boy lives, I've been there before."

Sakura tilted her head to the side a bit. "So you have met this guy before? Didn't you say you didn't know him?"

Sasuke shifted his eyes to the window, Sakura arching a brow at him. Sasuke was definitely hiding something.

"Who is Kimura Sadao, and how do you know him?" She gave him a quizzical look, narrowing her eyes.

"It doesn't matter."

Sakura furrowed her brows and frowned, "It does! If I'm going to risk my life to help you, I think I should know what's happening around here. What exactly did you do that might of—"

"I killed his dad," the missing-nin confessed.

"Wh-what?!" Sakura choked at his statement. She gave him a look of sheer disbelief.

The Godaime's apprentice took a step back, involuntarily clenching one of her hands into a fist. "But, why?"

"His cheating dad lied to me," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

The curious kunoichi immediately bombarded him with questions."B-but, how do they know that you were the one who killed the dad…and why is the dad so special? Aren't you supposed to be good at assassinations and all that? Isn't stealth one of your strengths? How did they find out?!"

Sasuke sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The boy witnessed the murder of his father, and I felt a little soft that day so I spared his life."

Green eyes widened at his words, her mind still trying to process what he was saying. "So, the boy…wants revenge?"

No reply.

"How ironic. An avenger after an avenger," Sakura mused, putting a finger to her chin as though in deep thought, "The kid may be annoying…but, you guys are very alike."

Sasuke growled, unconsciously fisting the thin blanket on the bed. "Look, the sooner we kill this guy, the better."

Sakura nodded, her gaze dropping to the floor, as a small, sad smile adorned her face_. 'But the sooner we kill the guy, the less time we have being…together.'_

* * *

Make me happy and review! :)))) I know, I know, Sasuke seems a bit, no ALOT, OOC in this story, (yeah, i hate it too!), but, the real sasuke...he..he has the emotions of a rock...so that's practically having a sakuraxrock paring. understand?

Omg, I'm so sorry for the late update, but I was SOOO busy.. I mean, i had this HUGE project due in my LA period, and guess who got assigned with the school's stupidest ass? yeah, me.. (i was so scared he'd ruin the project, that i purposely broke A BUNCH of pencils so he can sharpen them the entire time...while i worked on the project) :)))) Well, i'm bummed, cya next time! (which is hopefully soon)


	8. Chapter 8

I know what you all are thinking…you're all thinking that I crawled into a cave and died

I know what you all are thinking…you're all thinking that I crawled into a cave and died!! (psshh…u wish!) well, unfortunately, I'm still alive baby!! yeah yeah, complain all you want…but I've had these problems (no, not mentally), like, family issues and whatnot..but I'm still bak!

disclaimer: this is fanfiction for pete's sake.

* * *

The sunset was now mainly a deep, rich purple, mixed with hints of gold and red, only a small sliver of the sun still visible. A certain pink-haired medic-nin crouched at Sasuke's side, awaiting his next move. Everything was planned out, _everything, _from how the kill would be made, to who they (he) would kill, and even where they might wash their soon-to-be-soaked-in-blood laundry.

Sakura rolled her eyes; ironic how she despised the slaughtering of innocent people, but here she was, with _him, _ready to kill somebody. She turned her heads towards the raven haired nin, who was in deep concentration at staring at the aged mansion before them.

Now the sky was a dark navy blue, covering both he and Sakura. His coal dark, beautiful eyes now had a deep blue hue to them as well as his hair, and they blended more into the shadows now. How godly he looked…well, godlier than ever. Why did they have to make all the dangerous guys so hot? Wasn't it possible to have a guy that had the looks of Sasuke but the heart of Lee? 'Cause if one thing was certain, the words "hot" and "Lee" was never in the same sentence…unless it was: Lee looked so _not _hot in that spandex suit.

Sasuke leaped out of the bushes, stealthily running up against one of the mansion's crumbling walls and pressing himself against it. His dark eyes clashed with emerald as he inclined his head towards the window on his right. A slight nod came from the kunoichi before she silently made her way towards the wall, concentrated chakra to the bottom of her feet, and ran up the wall, towards the window.

Gloved hands gripped onto the wooden window frame, ever so carefully pulling the window up and she slid inside of what appeared to be an office. The medic held the window up, giving a few occasional glances at the door, before Sasuke slipped inside.

He motioned her to follow, moving out of the office they were in and into a grand hallway. Sakura made sure Sasuke's outline was always in view as the passage way was dimly lit. She followed him in a zig zag pattern through various passage ways, trusting his sense of direction.

Every now and then, the sound of soft footsteps reached their ears and they would immediately stop, slipping further into the shadows, waiting for the person to pass by. The light emitted by the candles was very faint if not visible at all, and Sakura depended on Sasuke's night vision to guide them through.

The man before her made an abrupt stop, Sakura barely managing avoid knocking into him due to the lack of light. She swore under her breath, glaring at him as he put a hand over her mouth. _'Where have those hands been?'_

He quickly glanced at her, giving her a look that showed annoyance, those looks that made her feel like a burden. She was about to pry his hand off when a soft noise was heard within the room ahead of her.

It was a noise she was all too familiar with, a noise that haunted her, reminding her of the times when she was locked up in her room after Sasuke left, the Team 7 photo still in her hands: the noise people made when they were crying.

A few sniffles were heard before there was a strangled sob. How Sakura wanted to go into the room and comfort whoever was crying—it sounded like a boy—before it hit her: this was the boy they were after.

Dread filled her heart and she gritted her teeth. Figures of Sasuke to do something like this; Orochimaru probably taught him a thing or two about ruining little boys' lives.

The fingers of his right hand hovered over the hilt of his kusanagi, looking towards the doorway, while his left hand was still clamped over her mouth.

"…stupid chicken haired bastard..." came the voice within the room. Sakura immediately tensed at the malicious aura at her side. She would have found the murderous look on Sasuke's face very funny if it weren't for the fact that the situation was so very heart wrenching.

The hand on her mouth left as the raven haired man swiftly made his way into the room. Sakura gasped, going after him. He wouldn't kill a poor innocent boy, would he?

Sakura silently closed the door behind her, coming in on time to see Sasuke unsheathe his kusanagi. The blade glinted with the pale light pouring through the split between the curtains. On the bed was a young boy, probably a preteen with his back facing them.

"Tou-san…" the boy mumbled, bringing up his arm and wiping his face with the back of his hand.

With experience at hand, the missing nin appeared behind the boy, raising his kusanagi , ready for the kill. The katana sliced through the air, falling lower…

Sakura found it unbearable to watch and turned her head to the side.

…and lower…

She suppressed the urge to gag. She did kill before, but never has she harmed a defenseless child.

…and lower…

This all sickened her. The fact that she was practically betraying Konoha and the fact that…well…_this _was happening.

…and lower…

The wall must have been really beautiful to have Sakura stare at it in such fascination. If only it wouldn't be stained with blood. Blood…viridian eyes widened a bit thinking of this.

…and lower…but the blade never met with the head it was intended for. Two gloved hands gripped the kusanagi, halting his action, onyx eyes stared at the thin arm before moving his sight up and tracing the arm…to the shoulder…to the face of the owner.

"Sakura," the said girl flinched at her name. The little boy on the bed, startled, jumped off the bed pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"Y-you!" the boy hollered, "you killed Tou-san!" His face darkened a bit, "I'll kill you."

Sasuke turned his head to the boy, sounding amused, "And how can such a young brat do that? You couldn't kill me before when I killed your father…you didn't even do anything. You're just a sniveling little brat."

The boy's eyes became glossy with tears threatening to fall at the reminder. "I don't care if I die. If I die, I'll bring you with me! At least you'll go to hell!"

The raven haired man growled. "Shut up brat!"

"My name is not brat! My name is Kimura Sadoa!" the boy said with a vain attempt to sound noble as though he was royalty itself, but failing miserably.

"Aah. Like your father? Mr. Kimura I presume?" Sasuke mused.

Sakura stared wide eyed as she listened intently to the conversation being exchanged between the two. She stared at the katana still within her grasp and pulled it.

"Sasuke…" she hissed.

With a sudden yank, Sasuke wrenched his kusanagi free from her tight hold. He stepped forward towards the boy, lifting the sword. "Like father like son I guess. I bet no one will notice or care if I kill you as well."

Sadoa stepped forward, raising a fist. "Just try bastard! Like how you killed my dad—just slaughtering him like he's some piece of worthless meat!"

"He was a piece of worthless meat…or fat. Fat would be more accurate," the missing-nin sneered.

A look of pure range contorted the boys face at hearing the insult. He screamed, running forward, trying to throw a punch. Sasuke's eyes flashed with a familiar crimson of his bloodline limit.

Sakura grabbed the back of Sasuke's shirt, tugging it in desperation. "Sasuke...no!!" she pleaded.

Sadoa didn't stop and screamed, raising his fists. Sasuke roughly shoved Sakura aside as he waited for the boy to come. Sakura fell to the ground, quickly turning to watch the two. She froze at the spot, her mind went blank and she panicked as the boy approached Sasuke.

Her eyes stared in horror at the scene before her. As Sadoa foolishly ran closer, the Sharingan-wielder made a diagonal slash with his kusanagi.

_Thump. _Viridian eyes stared in disgust at the corpse on the floor who was brutally murdered. She clamped a hand over her own mouth, letting out a muffled scream.

"N-no..." she shakily whispered. She staggered to the body of the boy, her head feeling a bit dizzy. "No…no!!"

She fell onto her own knees and crouched over, examining him. Sadoa stared lifelessly back at her, a deep bleeding gash through his chest.

Bending over, the medic nin traced the boy's wound before closing Sadoa's eyelids. He may be dead, but it was still creepy being stared at.

Pastel hairs swayed as Sakura violently jerked her head in Sasuke's direction. "You…" she muttered in disbelief, "you killed an innocent boy!"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, "He sure didn't sound innocent."

Anger began to bubble within the kunoichi. "I-I can't believe you Uchiha Sasuke! It's not the boy's fault for any of this. He shouldn't be dead! You killed his father for Kami's sake!"

"And by doing so, I have made the world a better place…" the Uchiha said before walking away and out of the door, not even taking a glance back.

"Why you conceited bastard!" Sakura ran after him into the hallway. She flung herself at him, swinging a chakra loaded punch at his head. "I'll knock some sense into your air-filled head!"

Sasuke sidestepped her punch, grabbing her extended arm and shoving her onto a wall, pinning her arm above her and pressing his body to his.

"What the hell are..mpphhh!" Sasuke roughly pressed a hand to her mouth. The sound of footsteps echoing through the hall as Sakura stiffened. The footfall gradually became fainter and Sasuke released her from his hold.

Sakura mouthed the words "I hate you", and glowered at him before proceeding to the window they originally came from. Sasuke shrugged, following after her.

* * *

Pink hair was tucked behind an ear as the wind blew strands of hair into her face. Sakura sat on the soft grass, hugging her knees and trying to recollect her thoughts. Though it may have been only an hour or two ago, she still mourned over the young boy. '_What was his name? Oh yeah, Sadoa.'_

He was so young, and didn't deserve such a death. His brutal demise still sent shivers up her spine. Sakura grimly remembered how he cried; she definitely felt some pity for him.

And he stood up against Sasuke. She gave the boy props for that.

She glared at Sasuke umpteenth time that day. Doesn't he ever feel guilty?

"I understand I look good but must you really stare?" a teasing remark came from the person in front of her.

Her glare intensified. "You cold-hearted bastard! I can't believe you!"

"You're still thinking about that annoying brat? What's dead is dead Sakura, get over it. You'll become weak this way if you get too sympathetic."

"Shut up!" she was infuriated now, "he shouldn't of died!" She was at the brink of tears, "You killed his father! He's just like you! He was out for revenge against the person who killed his father—you!"

Red flickered in his eyes before returning back to the original coal black. "Don't compare me with that boy." he warned through gritted teeth.

"Why not, you bastard?" she spat, "To scared to hear the truth?" She knew she was hitting a nerve.

"No, but you're being annoying. If you cared so much, why didn't you do anything to save the boy?" Sasuke smirked.

Sakura stood up, turning away from him. The tears she held back began falling. _Weak, _her mind was screaming at her, _crying is for the weak!_

Sasuke knew he hit a soft spot, he knew she was crying. But he didn't do anything; he couldn't. Hatred, he could understand and relate with, but when it came to grief, that was a feeling Uchiha Sasuke knew nothing about.

Sasuke was about to go back to the hotel when he felt something collide into his chest, _or someone. _Slim arms wrapped around him, a head leaning onto his chest. Sasuke stiffened at Sakura's embrace, listening to her quiet sobs.

He didn't return the embrace, merely stood, allowing her to hug him while he stared into space. She appreciated it though because he wasn't pushing away.

Sasuke was unsure of what to do in this situation. His heart was too cold, and his hands were forever stained with blood of those he killed. If anyone were to ever comfort another, it wouldn't be him; and it was best that way. It's not like he could; and anyways, he would just make the situation worse.

* * *

review! I revived from the dead! lols. i guess. i'm pretty busy nowadays with track and projects and stuffs. but i'm still here ain't I? omg, did anyone realize naruto shippuuden the movie is finally subbed? and when the subs FINALLY comes out after a year, a NEW naruto shippuuden movie is coming out, with UBERTY SMEXY SASUKE in it!! great, sighs, another year, another year... :)))))


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